Paper may be dispensed from dispensers predominantly in three main ways. Firstly, the paper may be in the form of individual sheets of predetermined size which are arranged within the dispenser such that the removal of one sheet causes a portion of a subsequent sheet to be exposed ready for removal. Secondly, the paper may be in the form of a continuous sheet and the dispenser is provided with a serrated or sharpened edge against which the sheet is brought to sever a certain length from the sheet. Thirdly, the paper may be in the form of a continuous sheet with perforations to allow a predetermined length of the sheet to be torn from the remainder of the sheet along the perforations. The feeding of the paper from these three types of paper may be manually or automatically achieved.
The present invention is primarily concerned with the manual dispensing of perforated paper from a dispenser, though it is to be understood that the invention may also be applied to dispensers of the second type described above.
In a known dispenser of perforated paper, the paper is in the form of a roll having a longitudinal axis. The paper is arranged in the dispenser such that the paper is unwound from the centre of the roll in a vertically downward direction through a dispensing nozzle. The dispensing nozzle is in the form of a truncated cone. As the paper passes through the nozzle, a braking force on the paper builds up due to friction between the sheet of paper and the inner surface of the nozzle. Provided that this braking force is sufficiently high, once a perforated length of the sheet of paper has passed through the nozzle, the weakening in the continuous sheet along the perforations will result in a length of the continuous sheet being torn from the remainder of the sheet.
Although the above-described dispenser has enjoyed commercial success, it does suffer from several disadvantages. Firstly, the braking force which is generated by the passage of the paper through the dispensing nozzle is very much dependent on the grade of paper being dispensed. Accordingly, the dispensing nozzle must be provided with an opening of variable size to thereby vary the braking force in order for the dispenser to be able to function with paper of different grade. Secondly, when the dispenser is charged with a new roll, the free end of the roll must be pushed through the nozzle to expose a length of sheet sufficiently long to allow it to be gripped. Since, in order to generate the requisite braking force, the nozzle is relatively long and narrow, difficulties arise in passing the free end of the roll through the nozzle.